Celtic youngster Jeremie Frimpong may be fancying his chances of making another first-team appearance this weekend if Hatem Abd Elhamed is not able to take his place.
28-year-old Elhamed is likely to miss his country Israel’s clash against Latvia on Tuesday after being struck down by a bug. The Daily Record had some recent quotes from Israel boss Andreas Herzog as he outlined the unlikely chance of Elhamed featuring in the dead rubber Group G qualifying clash.
“Hatem Abd Elhamed is sick and has been suffering from a virus,” Herzog said. “He’s not trained and in fact hasn’t even left the team hotel.
“He’s not been able to eat with the rest of the group. Clearly, he’s a major doubt for the game.”
Celtic Park is perfect for Frimpong
With Celtic’s next match coming just four days after Israel’s clash you do wonder whether Elhamed will be fit to take his place in the starting line-up. Ross County are the opposition at Celtic Park, and while it’s an important game, you wouldn’t expect us to have to rely on Elhamed to win the match.
Furthermore, with the big Europa League clash against Lazio coming hot of the heels of the County clash, we may feel it is best for the former Hapoel Be’er Sheva man to sit out anyway.
If he does then 18-year-old Frimpong will be a contender to come in alongside Moritz Bauer. Dutchman Frimpong hasn’t been seen since putting in a terrific display on his debut in the Betfred Cup win over Partick Thistle last month. He showed that night that he is more than just a player for the future. He also has something to offer right now.
With that in mind it would be lovely if the teenager got the nod ahead of Bauer on Saturday. The Celtic Park support would be sure to lap it up too.
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